photo taken June 2010 • title thanks to Margaret

one year ago: In The Sun, Out Of The Wind
two years ago: ‘Zhasted

This photo is so serious but I could NOT resist
the goofy -yet so apropos- title of Margaret’s!
Very close on her heels:
Charlie’s Pupil
What A Looker
This is a one coyote town, so move it along missy…..

Also loved the poetry quoted:
“Those true eyes /Too pure and too honest in aught to disguise /The sweet soul shining through them” -Owen Meredith

The night has a thousand eyes,
And the day but one;
Yet the light of the bright world dies
With the dying sun.
– Francis William Bourdillon

What does the wildness see, when the wildness looks back at me?

“If a thing loves, it is infinite”  – William Blake

It is only with the heart that one can see rightly.  What is essential is invisible to the eye.  –from “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

The eye is the jewel of the body. ~ Henry David Thoreau

“An Animal’s Eyes Have the Power to Speak Great Language” ~ Martin Buber

“Nature and books belong to the eyes that see them.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson

“If you are a dreamer come in
If you are a dreamer a wisher a liar
A hoper a pray-er a magic-bean-buyer
If youre a pretender come sit by my fire
For we have some flax golden tales to spin
Come in!
Come in!”
— Shel Silverstein

Thanks, All!

• • • It’s a challenge, for me, to put words to photos like this.
That’s why I’m giving it to YOU!
Title, caption, thoughtbubble… leave ’em in the comment section.
Prize this week is a Wyoming care package, complete with a
REAL Native American artifact ~ an arrowhead!
It’s tiny, about the size of my thumbnail. Quite peculiar.

Hello out there!!!

It’s been a while! A long long long long while.

Last fall, I decided I wasn’t going to do a Charlie calendar this year….. which felt very weird but life simply did not have room for it.

And then, in January, I checked my email for the first time in months and there were so many messages asking if there would be a calendar, and sharing what a consistently special part of people’s lives it has become, and I was like, how can I make this work????

And I found a way!!

And so……

Back by popular demand, the 2025 Charlie calendar is here to wild up your walls.

Since this calendar is debuting a month into the new year, it includes a full twelve months you can use: from February 2025 through January 2026. So you still get a full year of Charlie to enjoy.

I’m not available to ship orders myself this year, so I’m having the calendar printed and shipped via Lulu. See the calendar and order it, if you so desire, right HERE.

Wishing you a magical new year………..

five years ago: A Spoonful Of Sugar
six years ago: Pewter, Sterling, & Gold
seven years ago: Talkin’ To Fairies And Sparrows
eight years ago: Jack Frost
nine years ago: Upside Down, Boy You Turn Me
ten years ago: Blue Sky Horizons
eleven years ago: Mmmm Good
twelve years ago: Leaving His Mark

For 18 months after Charlie’s death, my only desire was to grieve. I celebrate how deeply I let myself experience my grief and how completely I prioritized myself during this time. I took a sabbatical, and only did what I felt like doing. At first it was mostly crying in bed.

After a couple of weeks of self-medicating with every substance I could get my hands on, I desperately wanted to feel close to Charlie again, physically close to him.

So, I dusted off my grandmother’s spinning wheel, had new bobbins 3D printed to fit the vintage wheel, and taught myself to spin. My goal was to eventually spin the bags of Charlie’s wool I’d saved every year when he shed his winter underfur.

I practiced with sheep’s wool. I spun for five or six hours a day, listening to the same three songs on repeat the entire time. In my remaining waking hours, I devoured spinning videos on youtube and read spinning forums. I still haven’t spun Charlie’s wool…. but now I know I can. And I have so much yarn!

At some point, I started hiking daily with the dogs, often to the bottom of a secluded canyon where I’d spin on a spindle while sunbathing all day long.

I created such a luxurious cocoon to be so sad within. So much good food that I made from scratch from the finest ingredients. So many baths. So many books. So much time spent outside in the wilderness.

And then after 18 months, I realized I no longer desired my grief to be my priority or the defining feature of my life, and I didn’t want it to become a crutch.

That’s when I shared my birthday self portrait on instagram. I wasn’t ready to write anything, but I knew that picture was worth a thousand words, that it would show that I was ok, that I was coming back into life again.

When I took that photo, I still didn’t know who I was without Charlie. I didn’t know what I wanted for my next season of life, and I didn’t fully want to know—thinking about it felt like the last big goodbye. Taking this picture felt like my first step into that abyss, the abyss of Next. And I do love a good abyss.

It’s been 18 months since that first step, and what an abyss it has been. Love, magic, adventure. Returning to parts of myself placed on pause for Charlie, discovering parts of myself I hadn’t yet met. Stories for other days.

In the meantime, I have Charlie’s 2024 calendar for you. He’s with me every day. CLICK HERE if you’d like to spend another year with him, too.

And tell me a little about your last three years in the comments, if you please….

three years ago: Light Of My Life
four years ago: Waving Tails
five years ago: If Eyes Could Say What
six years ago: Wakin’ Up Is Hard To Do
seven years ago: See Creature
eight years ago: Solid Gold
nine years ago: Mesmereyes
ten years ago: Autumn Bouquet
eleven years ago: Into The Sun
twelve years ago: Hide And Seek Sagebrush

My web magician and I have set up some really cool code for The Daily Coyote. Starting tomorrow and forevermore, the top post of this site will feature a photo of Charlie from our vast archives, which will change with every visit the blog.

I didn’t want the daily pictures to end, or for Charlie’s blog to become static. With this new feature, there will always be a surprise from Charlie when you visit The Daily Coyote. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

I’ll be back to post more stories about Charlie and never-before-seen pictures from deep within the treasure chest of my hard drives, but such posts will be unscheduled and at random.

Since my written posts are mixed in with pictures around here, I’ve put my last long written posts about Charlie HERE so they are easy to find.

one year ago: Solid Gold
two years ago: Puff Daddy
three years ago: Winterland
four years ago: Confetti Eyes
five years ago: A Grand Adventure
six years ago: Grand Vista
seven years ago: Just Beauty
eight years ago: Sun Dumpling
nine years ago: Chillin’ In The Cow Camp Cabin
ten years ago: Napball
eleven years ago: Summer Is For Gazing
twelve years ago: Velvet

photo taken October 2020

one year ago: Solid Gold
two years ago: Snow Rove
three years ago: Winterland
four years ago: Is It Called Macaroni If It’s In His Mouth?
five years ago: Snuggly
six years ago: Nest Of Light
seven years ago: Just Beauty
eight years ago: Feeling Fall
nine years ago: Pile Of Play
ten years ago: Octopus Meadow
eleven years ago: Eli These Days
twelve years ago: How Cute Can A Baby Be

photo taken October 2020

one year ago: Colorblock
two years ago: Snow Rove
three years ago: First Snow
four years ago: Frosty Morning
five years ago: Strollin’ Strollin’ Strollin’
six years ago: Nest Of Light
seven years ago: Morning Blend
eight years ago: Feeling Fall
nine years ago: Stare N’ Shake
ten years ago: Love Two Love
eleven years ago: Heart Seizure
twelve years ago: How Cute Can A Baby Be